U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday expressed eagerness to strike a free trade agreement with Japan "at some point." "We think we got to have a free trade agreement with Japan and hopefully we get to that stage at some point," Lighthizer said at
U. S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer on Tuesday expressed eagerness to strike a free trade agreement with Japan “at some point.”
“We think we got to have a free trade agreement with Japan and hopefully we get to that stage at some point,” Lighthizer said at a business forum in Washington.
He indicated that during new bilateral trade talks, the two governments will discuss Japan’s request that Washington exempt Tokyo from new U. S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
The two governments are expected to hold the first round of ministerial talks on trade and investment — which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U. S. President Donald Trump agreed to launch during their meeting last month in Florida — around mid-June.
The Trump administration is “actively considering” formulating bilateral trade deals with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Lighthizer.
